Fillmore County Central starts fast, holds on to win

Fillmore County Central had many opportunities to put away Lester Prairie during their Class A state quarter final game at Jordan High School. Each time, the Bulldogs from Lester Prairie would come up with a way to stay in the game – until they finally ran out of chances, and the Falcons' defense came up with one more stop.   The Falcons from Fillmore County Central came out of the locker room smoking. After the defense made a stop, the offense, behind pin-point passing by quarterback Dillon O'Connor, moved the ball right down the field. O'Connor was accurate with the mid-range game to the outside. He would use his legs to finish the drive with a four yard quarterback draw for a touchdown and an early 6-0 lead.   While Fillmore County Central was moving the ball through the air, Lester Prairie was moving the ball on the ground. After both defenses forced punts, the Bulldogs' running back [player_tooltip player_id='300678' first='Tanner' last='Scheevel'] started to show what the fans would see all night – Scheevel to the right, Scheevel up the middle, Scheevel to the left. Scheevel and the Bulldogs' offensive line were responsible for almost every positive yard on the drive, but the Falcons' defense made plays in the red zone.   Chase Christianson made a tackle on the outside for a loss of two, forcing Lester Prairie into a fourth and three from the five yard line. The interior of the Falcons' defensive line stuffed Scheevel between the tackles, turning the ball over to the offense.   From their own three yard line, Fillmore County Central put together a 97 yard touchdown drive that chewed up almost the rest of the first half. O'Connor threw deep, out of the end zone, and hooked up with Christianson for twenty five yards. Using a good mix of throws and runs to the outside, Fillmore County Central was into Lester Prairie territory but faced a fourth and three. Another throw to the outside – this time to Jake Fishbaugher – kept the chains moving. Then, O'Connor and Christianson hooked up for their second huge play of the drive. The first got the Falcons out of the shadow of their goal line, and the second put them within reach of the Bulldogs' goal line. Christianson got up into the air and won a 50/50 ball for thirty yards and a first and goal from the six. [player_tooltip player_id='407968' first='Bryce' last='Corson'] would run it in two plays later, completing the 97 yard drive.   The Falcons looked like they would go into the half with a comfortable 12-0 lead, but Lester Prairie found a way to stay in the game. Scheevel took a lot of direct snaps, and the Bulldogs were deep into Falcons' territory in the blink of an eye. With less than thirty seconds to play in the half, Scheevel ran to the left and pulled up to throw a pass. The ball was tipped by both receiver and defender on the goal line. The ball popped into the air, behind the intended receiver, and right into Lester Prairie's Logan Lambrecht's hands for a huge touchdown right before the half. Instead of being down 12-0, the Bulldogs went into the locker room down just four points with all sorts of momentum.   Like in the first half, the Fillmore County Central offense came out on fire. Continuing to hurt the Lester Prairie defense with short and intermediate throws to the outside, they picked up first down after first down. Then, O'Connor took a shot downfield. It was not his best ball, but Corson made a diving catch for thirty yards down to the twelve. Lester Prairie's defense nearly got off the field, but on fourth and eight from the twelve, O'Connor threw a perfect pass on a crossing route to Corson for a first down just short of the goal line. O'Connor would finish the drive on a one yard touchdown run.   Up 18-8, Fillmore County Central again looked to be on the verge of putting the game away. They had gotten a defensive stop and were moving the ball on offense again. The Falcons were in the red zone, but Lester Prairie's [player_tooltip player_id='966494' first='Trever' last='Schauer'] tipped an O'Connor pass. Schauer not only tipped the pass but caught the tipped ball. He had a lot of room in front of him and returned the interception down the sidelines to the Fillmore County Central thirty yard line.   The Falcons' defense made another play, as they would do the entire game. This time it was Corson with an interception – turning away another promising Bulldogs' drive.   With a chance to put the game out of reach, Fillmore County Central would not be able to put together a drive against a Bulldogs' defense that was getting better as the game wore on. Scheevel was getting better as the game wore on too. After making a couple of cuts at the line of scrimmage, Scheevel got into the open field and scored from 38 yards out. After the two point conversion, Lester Prairie only trailed 18-16.   The Falcons' defense looked like they had put the game out of reach when a fake punt did not fool them at midfield by Lester Prairie. Fillmore County Central's William Parker read it and forced Scheevel out wide – giving the defense plenty of time to surround the tough runner.   With five minutes to play, Fillmore County Central looked like they were about to put the game away again. A screen pass to Kyle Daniels picked up 15 yards and a first down. They would execute a successful hook and ladder to pick up another first down – bleeding the clock the whole way. With three minutes to play, the Falcons fumbled the ball back to Lester Prairie and improbably had one more chance. Fillmore County Central finally put Lester Prairie away when Daniels stuffed a fourth down run at the line of scrimmage – preserving the Falcons' 18-16 win and securing a spot in the Class A semi-finals.

Fillmore County Central had many opportunities to put away Lester Prairie during their Class A state quarter final game at Jordan High School. Each time, the Bulldogs from Lester Prairie would come up with a way to stay in the game – until they finally ran out of chances, and the Falcons' defense came up with one more stop.